BRIDGEWATER - There may be no more appropriate way to celebrate Bob Vaucher's 100th birthday later this year than raising money to preserve the Wemple property on Foothill Road.

For years, Vaucher, a Foothill Road resident who flew 117 combat missions in World War II and fought many civic crusades during his more than seven decades as a township resident, has mounted a campaign for the township to preserve the property of his late neighbor, John Wemple.

The 36-acre Wemple property, that extends to Steele Gap Road, is the last sizable piece of undeveloped property on the south side of the Watchung ridge. Because of its location and proximity to routes 22 and 287, the land has been targeted for development and has been approved by the township, despite opposition from neighbors, for 15 residential lots.

But Brendan Burns, Vaucher's neighbor and comrade in the struggle against the property's development, said property owner Stephen Lang, after getting to know Vaucher, has experienced a "change of heart" and said the development could be stopped if $1.95 million could be raised to buy the land.

Burns, a salesman who has lived in the township for a dozen years, said he collected $50,000 in two weeks just by soliciting community members.

The portion of the Wemple property to be preserved is the wooded area to the north and east of the elegant farmhouse you can see from Foothill Road.

The property has significant historical meaning, Burns said. Research shows that Gen. George Washington stationed 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers on the site during the Camp Middlebrook encampment in the Revolutionary War.

The property is also on the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail, the route taken In 1781 by General Rochambeau’s French Army after it joined forces with Washington’s Continental Army to fight the British Army in Yorktown, Virginia. With the French Navy in support, the allied armies moved hundreds of miles to become the largest troop movement of the American Revolution that eventually culminated in the decisive battle of the Revolution.

Dr. Robert Selig, project historian to the National Park Service for the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail Project, believes there are "thousands of artifacts" to be unearthed on the property, Burns said.

If the land is preserved, the house and outbuildings will be separated from the rest of the property.

Burns said he hopes that if the rest of the property is preserved, a natural spring on the property, that once supplied the defunct Somerville Water Co., can be restored.

For Vaucher, who has fought against overdevelopment in the township and organized the Foothill Civic Association, preserving the property would be a hard-fought and long-awaited victory, Burns said.

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"Bob has always done the right thing," Burns said. "This is the right thing. Let's do it for Bob!"

In short, in 1995, Wemple signed an agreement with The Nature Conservancy to donate a portion of the property. But his will was overturned because of allegations that Wemple, a former advertising manager for a newspaper, was incompetent, an allegation that Vacher said is "nonsense."

Wemple's heirs then decided to sell the property, which has a house and outbuildings where Wemple kept his antique car collection.

In 2010, Steven and Sandy Lang bought the property from Wemple's estate and The Nature Conservancy for $1.95 million. The Langs proposed building homes on the property with two dead-end streets with cul de sacs.

And though the project was approved, it has not materialized.

Born just a month after the armistice to end World War I was signed, Vaucher led the squadron of planes that flew over the USS Missouri as Gen. Douglas MacArthur was presiding over the formal ceremonies that ended World War II. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, was inducted into the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame and has been nominated to the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Though he's a little hard of hearing and needs a cane to keep his balance, Vaucher is as sharp as ever. His eyes mischievously twinkle when he talks about his efforts to save the Wemple property. He's written letters to forrmer Gov. Chris Christie and President Donald Trump asking for their help.

Vaucher said that at first he didn't want to take on what he said would be his final battle. But his neighbors convinced him to once again assume the role of Bridgewater's veteran watchdog.